machine. What better way to have the
user interact with the brand in a fun and
innovative way,” notes Qualman. “This
is something that every marketer has
strived for since the time of David Ogilvy
— new technologies, such as immersion technology, make this type of brand
engagement possible.”

Just days after the campaign ended,
Travelzoo noticed an increase in customer inquiries. Searches for the brand
“Travelzoo” were up roughly 20 percent.
The brand also gained more exposure
with USA Today, CNET, CBS and
NBC News picking up coverage of the
campaign on their Web sites and in print
editions.

advertising is out. Marketing on the
Internet and social networking Web sites
is in. MySpace.com is fading quickly into
oblivion, and Facebook.com is the new
“it” Web site.

Three years since the site’s creation,
Facebook has risen to become one of
the highest-trafficked Web sites on the
Internet. The site averages nearly 34
million users and 46. 7 billion page views
per month. Companies that advertise on
Facebook are always looking for marketing initiatives that aren’t considered

“These days people see brands they
like and actually take ownership in them.
The days of the old ‘billboard’ may be
gone,” says Qualman. “There are so many
benefits to having a display ad that can

GET THE FACTS!

Facebook has become one of the biggest networking sites for Generations X
and Y. Here is a breakdown of Facebook’s user habits:

❯ More than 34 million active monthly users

❯ Ranks No. 6 among all Internet sites, with 46. 7 billion total page views per month
❯ 24 percent of users list a college as their primary network

❯ 23 percent of users have geography listed as their primary network
❯ 50 percent of active users return every day
❯ 2. 3 visits per visitor per day and 19. 2 visits per month
❯ 21. 9 minutes per visitor per day and 184.6 minutes per month
❯ 5. 7 billion total page views per month and 22. 5 million unique visitors per month

be updated real time, and one in which
the user is actually engaged with the
brand. Instead of talking to them, you are
actually interacting with them.”

Reaching Out on Facebook

As most direct response marketers
are aware, Generations X and Y can be
difficult to reach. These age groups push
away formal and abrasive advertising,
yet they pull in advertising media that
fit their needs. Television and magazine

After weighing the benefits and
risks, many companies within the travel
industry have made the decision that Facebook may be most appropriate vehicle
for their foray into the social networking
atmosphere. Many of these companies
agree that this decision was based mainly
on the fact that Facebook’s user demographics match their higher quality user
demographics. Recently, Facebook has
grown by nearly 150,000 users per day,

the majority of whom are either
currently in college or have graduated.

Facebook opened its Applica-tion Programming Interface (API)earlier this year, which has en-couraged growth within the com-munity. Combining this bonuswith the knowledge that Facebookopened its platform to non-collegestudents in October 2006, market-ers can see why Facebook hasthe highest potential for growthon the Internet. Some marketersnote that Facebook’s technology seemedbetter prepared to handle this hypergrowth than MySpace and/or SecondLife. Overall, many agree the Facebookplatform has been more robust.

Travel companies are vying for the
desire to be recognized by potential
consumers, just like any other company
out there. Furthermore, these companies
don’t want to just “speak” to the audience, but rather be a part of the conversation.

To do this, a company seeking to
reach its target market on Facebook
needs to create two things: a Facebook
group and a widget (or a third-party
source code that can be enabled onto
a page, such as a blog or online profile)
for users to add on to their respective
profi les.

As of October 2007, nearly 150
travel applications have been added
to Facebook, with more exciting and
interactive applications sprouting each
day. Facebook users have the ability to
now actively search out applications that

“me-too” advertising. Travelzoo, for
example, prefers a one-on-one relationship with its subscribers, and has been
looking for a way to make that happen
on the Internet.

“In August 2007, we started taking
a closer look at MySpace, Small World,
Second Life and Facebook,” says Qualman. “There’s potential that we will
eventually have a presence on all of these.
However, we always like to focus on
what we think will be the big winner and